College women are four times more likely to be raped than any other group.

This statistic seems incredibly foreign to the Brandeis experience. I remember well being introduced to the Brandeis Counseling and Rape Crisis Hotline during orientation and thinking that it seemed like such a superfluous resource at a place like Brandeis. It's such a tiny campus and we never hear about rape, so it must not happen here.

The sense of security that the Brandeis bubble gave me was shattered two years later when I joined the Student Conduct Board. During our trainings I learned that not only does rape happen at Brandeis, but also that it happens about as frequently as at other colleges.

Since the 2008-2009 academic year, there have been five official Community Standards Reports (CSRs) of sexual misconduct to date. In addition to official CSRs of sexual misconduct, The Department of Student Rights and Community Standards (SRCS) also receives a number of disclosures of sexual misconduct, which can range from a detailed account from the survivor, who does not want to go forward with official proceedings, to a vague question from a third party, which does not specify who the perpetrator is or where the incident occurred. SRCS does not compile statistics on disclosures of sexual misconduct that do not advance to a CSR, however it is important to note that there is a larger quantity of unofficial disclosures. The fact that both reports and disclosures happen and that it is estimated that between 75 and 95 percent of sexual assaults go unreported suggest that with regard to sexual assault, Brandeis is just like every other college campus.

With this knowledge in mind and with the knowledge that there are many survivors of sexual assault on our campus-whether or not they choose to identify themselves as such-I was nauseated to learn about our community's newest Facebook page, "Brandeis Hookups."

The premise of "Brandeis Hookups" is that anyone can anonymously submit their "raunchiest, craziest Brandeis hookup story" to the page's administrators, who then supposedly vet the stories for content before posting them publicly on the page.

Admittedly, I deactivated my own Facebook page at the beginning of March to better focus on my thesis, so I have been lucky enough to never lay eyes on the page. The idea that a public forum for sharing private sexual moments exists, however, makes me squirm.

When I first heard about the page, my visceral reaction was an overwhelming sense of panic. What if someone decided that an unfortunate or uncomfortable experience they had shared with me would be appropriate fodder for the page? No one would ever know that the story was about me but that would not stop them from jeering and excitedly whispering about whatever humiliating detail someone decided to share about me.

On the flip side, what if someone decided that an experience with me was an accomplishment they wanted to share so that they could get public approval for their "conquest?" Then a moment that I expected to remain private and personal has suddenly turned me into an object-a trophy to be put on display.

Given my fears about my own consensual experiences, I cannot imagine the fears of someone who has had a sexual experience at Brandeis that was not so clearly consensual. To wake up one day, log onto Facebook, and see that a traumatizing and violating experience, which perhaps has not been fully processed, dealt with, or understood, has been publicly posted for the whole world to see has the potential to be just as traumatizing as the original experience itself. It is irrelevant whether or not a post was submitted by an actual perpetrator of an actual incident of sexual assault. If the details of any post are similar enough to someone's experience of a forced sexual contact, the traumatizing effects will be the same. Publicly displaying forced sexual experiences in this way is what survivors of rape and their advocates call a "trigger."

What makes the triggering effects of the "Brandeis Hookups" page all the worse is the fact that people can and, as it seems, frequently do, comment on any post encouraging, condoning and applauding the sexual conquests of their peers. The potential bragging rights that any of my consensual partners have about their experiences with me are humiliating and objectifying, but those of a perpetrator of forced sexual contact are degrading, further traumatizing and incredibly perverse.

Perhaps Brandeis is no different from any other college with respect to the incidence of sexual assault, but do we really have the kind of community where we applaud sexual assault when it happens as well?

Unfortunately, the existence of a public page like "Brandeis Hookups" makes it seem like we do. Despite our ideas about our safety inside the Brandeis bubble, the fact of the matter is that we still live on a college campus, and women at Brandeis are still college women, who are, like all college women, four times more likely to be raped.

Given that this statistic applies to us, we need to be more sensitive than anyone about the potential effects of the way we talk about sex. By allowing the "Brandeis Hookups" page to exist, we are denying the impact that our sexual discourse can have on survivors of sexual assault. Whether we actively participate in the page or tacitly support it by saying nothing against it, we are promoting and participating in the kind of culture that not only allows rape to happen, but also says that it is OK, and that the traumatizing experience of the survivor is not valid.

The "Brandeis Hookups" page has shattered my perceptions of Brandeis once more. I want to believe that Brandeis is a safe, supportive and respectful environment, particularly for members of our community who may be survivors of sexual assault. As long as this page exists and is considered acceptable however, the safety and well-being of our community is compromised.
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